God Addresses His People As Defendants And Reveals That He Is Not Judging Them Because Of The Inadequacy of Their Physical Sacrifices, Which In Fact Are Not Needed By Him, But Because Of The Inadequacy Of Their Thanksgiving And Faithfulness To Their Vows (Psalms 50:7-15).
God assures them that He is not judging them because of the inadequacy of their sacrifices. Indeed they were not necessary for His sustenance, because had He required sustenance the whole of nature was His, the world and all its fullness was available to Him. No what He rather requires is their offerings of thanksgiving, and their obedience to their vows. Then they can be sure that when they call on Him He will respond.
We are reminded here of Samuel's words to Saul in 1 Samuel 15:22, ‘has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen and respond than the fat of rams.'
‘Hear, O my people, and I will speak,
O Israel, and I will testify to you,
God, even your God am I.
God now calls on Israel to listen to Him in what He says to them, for He wants to testify to them. And He reminds them of Who He is. He stresses that He is God, even their own God. That is why they should hear what He has to say.
‘I will not reprove you for your sacrifices,
And your burnt-offerings are continually before me.
I will take no bullock out of your house,
Nor he-goats out of your folds.
For every beast of the forest is mine,
And the cattle on a thousand hills.'
He assures them that He is not reproving them for the quality and number of their sacrifices. Indeed their burnt offerings are continually before Him. Thus it is not their ritual observance that is at fault.
In fact He stresses that He wants nothing more from them in that regard. He will not take any bullock from their house, or he-goats from their fold, for He has no need of them. After all, every beast of the forest is His. He possesses the cattle on a thousand hills. (We have here a typical use of ‘a thousand' to simply mean a large number. Israelites were not on the whole very numerate, and large numbers tended to be used in this way).
‘I know all the birds of the mountains,
And the wild beasts of the field are mine.
If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
For the world is mine, and its fullness.'
Continuing the same theme He stresses that He knows all the birds of the mountains, and the wild beasts of the countryside. Thus if He had been hungry He would not have needed to tell them, because the whole world was His, and all its fullness.
In many polytheistic religions the belief was that their gods fed on sacrifices, and needed such sacrifices in order to maintain their welfare. But they are assured that this is not true of the God of Israel. He requires no sustenance from sacrifices. Thus they should recognise that their offerings and sacrifices are for their benefit, not His.
‘Will I eat the flesh of bulls,
Or drink the blood of goats?
Offer to God the sacrifice of thanksgiving,
And pay your vows to the Most High,
And call on me in the day of trouble,
I will deliver you, and you will glorify me.'
To suggest therefore that God would eat the flesh of bulls or would drink the blood of goats when they were offered in sacrifice was ludicrous. No. The truth was that what God required of them was the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and the performance of their vows to serve and worship Him faithfully. In other words He sought their spiritual worship and gratitude, and their fulfilling of their promises. As long as they offered these things they could then be sure that when they called on Him in the day of trouble, He would deliver them, so that they could give glory to God, and give Him glory by their testimony. He is not here speaking of the ‘thanksgiving sacrifice' of Leviticus 7:12, but of genuine thanksgiving as being itself the ‘sacrifice' that is pleasing to Him.
It is similar to the worship that is required in the New Testament. ‘Through Him (Who sanctified us through His own blood) therefore let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that make confession to His Name. Do not neglect to do good, and to share what you have with others, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased' (Hebrews 13:15-16). Man looks at ritual. God looks at the heart.